U.S. patent number 6,959,560 [Application Number 10/288,885] was granted by the patent office on 2005-11-01 for baffled air flow system for peg bar refrigerated merchandiser.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Carrier Commercial Refrigeration, Inc.. Invention is credited to Michael J. Kempiak, Jerry L. Weikel.
United States Patent |
6,959,560 |
Weikel , et al. |
November 1, 2005 |
Baffled air flow system for peg bar refrigerated merchandiser
Abstract
A refrigerated merchandiser includes a display case 10 having an
open front and defining a product display space 30 wherein product
15 is hung for display and customer access on a peg bar support
system 50. Refrigerated air passes into the product display space
30 through a back panel 24 perforated with air inlet holes 48. A
baffle plate 60 lies superadjacent the peg bar support system 50
and is positioned relative thereto so as to provide an airflow gap
65 between its rearward edge 64 and the back panel 24 and an
airflow gap 63 between its forward edge 62 and the tag moulding 58
of the peg bar support system 50. Refrigerated air passes through
the rearward and forward airflow gaps to cool the product displayed
on the peg bar support system. Additionally, the baffle plate may
be perforated with a plurality of holes to provide additional
airflow passages 70 through which further refrigerated air may pass
to cool the product displayed on the peg bar support system.
Inventors: |
Weikel; Jerry L. (Granger,
IN), Kempiak; Michael J. (Osceola, IN) |
Assignee: |
Carrier Commercial Refrigeration,
Inc. (Aurora, IL)
|
Family
ID: |
32175989 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/288,885 |
Filed: |
November 6, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/255;
62/256 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47F
3/0447 (20130101); A47F 5/0807 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47F
5/08 (20060101); A47F 3/04 (20060101); A47F
003/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;62/255,256 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Tapolcai; William E.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A refrigerated merchandiser comprising: a display case defining
a product display space having an open front, the display case
having a back panel having air inlet holes extending therethrough
through which refrigerated air enters the display area; a peg bar
support system disposed within the display space, the peg bar
system having a support bar supported from the back panel of the
display case, a first set of rods extending from the support bar
into the display space to support a tag moulding at the distal ends
of said set of first rods, and a set of second rods extending from
the support bar into the display space and adapted to provide
support for a product to hang therefrom; and a baffle plate
disposed superadjacent the peg bar support system, the baffle plate
having a leading edge and a trailing edge, the leading edge of the
baffle plate positioned in spaced relationship from the tag
moulding thereby establishing an airflow gap therebetween.
2. The refrigerated merchandiser of claim 1 wherein the baffle
plate has a plurality of airflow passages passing therethrough.
3. The refrigerated merchandiser of claim 2 wherein the plurality
of airflow passages comprises a plurality of holes perforating the
baffle plate.
4. The refrigerated merchandiser of claim 2 wherein the plurality
of airflow passages comprises a plurality of holes perforating a
forward portion of the baffle plate extending along the leading
edge of the baffle plate.
5. The refrigerated merchandiser of claim 2 wherein the plurality
of holes perforating the baffle plate are substantially evenly
distributed over the baffle plate.
6. The refrigerated merchandiser of claim 1 wherein the trailing
edge of the baffle plate is positioned in spaced relationship with
the back panel of the display case thereby forming an airflow gap
therebetween.
7. The refrigerated merchandiser of claim 6 wherein the baffle
plate has a plurality of airflow passages passing therethrough.
8. The refrigerated merchandiser of claim 7 wherein the plurality
of airflow passages comprises a plurality of holes perforating the
baffle plate.
9. The refrigerated merchandiser of claim 7 wherein the plurality
of airflow passages comprises a plurality of holes perforating a
forward portion of the baffle plate extending along the leading
edge of the baffle plate.
10. The refrigerated merchandiser of claim 7 wherein the plurality
of holes perforating the baffle plate are substantially evenly
distributed over the baffle plate.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to refrigerated display case. More
particularly, the invention relates to an air flow system for a
refrigerated merchandiser of the type wherein foods products, for
example pre-packaged perishable food products, such as cheese
slices, sandwich meat slices, bacon and the like are hung on a peg
bar display system.
Refrigerated merchandisers, commonly referred to as display cases,
found in supermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores may be
provided with a peg bar display system wherein pre-packaged,
perishable food products, such as cheese slices, sandwich meat
slices, bacon and the like, are displayed within an open viewing
area. In a typical peg bar display system, such as the prior art
peg bar display system 50' illustrated in FIG. 1, a transversely
extending structural bar 52' is mounted to the back wall of the
display case. This structural bar supports, in a cantilevered
manner, a plurality of rods 54' that extend outwardly from the
structural bar 52' into the viewing area. The pre-packaged food
products being displayed are hung on these rods 54', generally by
means of slipping a hole in a tab portion extending from the
product package over the rod 54'. Additionally, the structural bar
52' supports, again in a cantilevered manner, rods 56' that support
a price tag molding 58' that extends transversely across the
displayed products, superadjacent the distal ends of rods 54'. To
retrieve a food product package from the open viewing area, the
consumer may reach into the display case, without opening a door,
and simply slide the package off its support rod 54'.
To keep the product refrigerated within the display case, these
open-front refrigerated merchandisers customarily have an air
curtain that extends from near the top to near the bottom of the
display case over the viewing area. Typically, this air curtain is
formed by cold air flowing generally vertically downwardly from an
outlet at the top of the front of the display case to a warm air
return near the bottom of the display case. This air is drawn into
the warm air return by a fan that then blows the warmed air over
the refrigerated tube coil of a refrigeration evaporator and
recycles the air back to the air outlet at the top of the display
case through a supply duct that extends along the back wall and
across the roof of the display case. Generally, the back wall of
the display case is perforated with a plurality of holes that open
into the supply duct, whereby a portion of the refrigerated air
passing through the supply duct passes through these holes in the
perforated back wall of the display case to enter directly into the
product viewing area.
Despite the downwardly directed air curtain flowing over the front
of the display case and the refrigerated air entering the display
case through its perforated rear wall, packaged product disposed at
the front of the display case on the distal, that is forward,
portion of the rods may not be sufficiently cooled. Product
displayed on the rods near the front of the display case may be too
warm due to radiant heat from the store, shelf lights located at
the front of the display, and ambient air infiltration from the
area in front of the case. In an attempt to improve the cooling of
packaged product displayed on the forward portion of the rods, it
is known in the art to position a flow impervious baffle 60'
superadjacent the peg bar display system 50', the baffle abutting
the rear wall of the display case and extending forwardly to
contact the back of the price tag molding as depicted in prior art
FIG. 2. The flow impervious baffle serves to direct the air flow
entering the display case through the holes in the perforated back
wall of the display case essentially horizontally forwardly towards
the front of the display case and precludes that air flow from
passing downwardly before it reaches the front of the display case.
While improving the cooling of the forward positioned product, such
conventional flow impervious baffles have not been effective to
fully solve the problem of insufficient cooling of the forward
positioned product due to warm air infiltration and radiant heat
from the store and heat from display lighting.
Accordingly, there still exists a need to improve air flow
distribution in the product view area of a display case having a
peg bar display system so that forwardly positioned product is
sufficiently cooled.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, a baffle plate is
disposed superadjacent the peg bar display so as to extend
forwardly from its trailing edge, which extends along the
perforated back wall of the display case, to its leading edge,
which is positioned in spaced from the price tag molding, thereby
establishing a forward flow gap therebetween. When cool
refrigerated air passing along the upper surface of the baffle
reaches the leading edge of the baffle, the cool refrigerated air
drops through the forward air gap to flow over the forwardly
positioned product disposed on the forward portion of the pegs near
the front of the display case.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the trailing edge of the
baffle plate, while extending along the perforated back wall of the
display cabinet, does not abut, but rather is disposed in spaced
relationship from the back wall of the display case thereby
establishing a rearward flow gap therebetween. A portion of the
cool refrigerated air entering the display case through the air
flow holes in the back wall of the display case passes through the
rearward flow gap to flow over product hanging from pegs below the
baffle plate.
In a still further embodiment of the invention, the baffle plate
has a plurality of holes passing therethrough through which a
further portion of cool refrigerated air passing over the upper
surface of the baffle may passing downwardly through the holes to
flow over product hanging from pegs below the baffle plate. By
selecting the number and relative sizes of the plurality holes
extending through the baffle flow and the distribution of these
holes over the area of the baffle plate, the amount and the
relative distribution of the air flow passing through the baffle
plate between its leading and trailing edges may be controlled.
Further, by selecting the respective widths of the forward and
rearward flow gaps, the flow areas provided by those gaps may be
established as desired to fully control the relative distribution
of cool refrigerated air flow amongst the forward gap, the rearward
gap, and the plurality of holes provided between the trailing and
leading edges of the baffle plate. Accordingly, not only is the
flow of sufficient cool refrigerated air to the forward positioned
assured, but also the distribution of cool refrigerated air to the
product hanging on pegs beneath the baffle may be selectively
controlled from the rear to the front of the display case.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The various features and advantages of this invention will become
apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed
description of the currently preferred embodiment and the
accompanying drawings. The drawings that accompany the detailed
description can be briefly described as follows:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional prior art peg bar
display system.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional peg bar airflow
system incorporating a prior art flow impervious baffle plate
disposed superadjacent the peg bar, display system;
FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of a refrigerated display case
equipped with the improved peg bar airflow systems in accordance
with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a respective view of the peg bar airflow system of the
present invention;
FIG. 5 is a plan view of one embodiment of the flow baffle of the
peg bar airflow system of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a plan view of an alternative embodiment of the flow
baffle of the peg bar airflow system of the present invention;
and
FIG. 7 is a plan view of another alternate embodiment of the flow
baffle of the peg bar airflow system of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now FIGS. 3 and 4, the refrigerated display case 10
constitutes a housing 14 having an open front area 18, a floor
panel 22, a back panel 24, a top panel 26 and side panels 28, which
collectively encompassed a product display space 30 wherein product
for sale is placed for viewing and access by the consumer.
Consumers self-serve by simply reaching into display case 10 to
retrieve product 15 displayed therein. An airflow passage 40
extends around and adjacent the floor panel 22, the back panel 24
and the top panel 26. Refrigerated air flows from passage 40
through a perforate grill at the outlet 44 to the airflow passage
to pass generally vertically downwardly over the open front area 18
of the display case 10 to reenter the airflow passage 40 through a
perforate grill at the inlet 46 to the airflow passage. As in
conventional practice, the refrigerated air flowing downwardly over
the open front area 18 of the display case 10 establishes an air
curtain 20 that separates the refrigerated display space 30 from
the ambient air 16 in the store.
One or more circulating fans 42 and an evaporator 38 are located in
the airflow passage 40, advantageously in a compartment 34 formed
within the lower portion of the display case and separated from the
display space 30 by the floor panel 22. The evaporator 38 may be of
conventional design, for example a finned tube coil, and extend
across the width of the display case 10 as a single piece
evaporator or a plurality of separate evaporators. The evaporator
38 is operatively connected with conventional condensing equipment
(not shown) disposed externally of the display case 10 in usual
fashion at another location in the store, on the store roof, or
otherwise as normally located. The circulating fan or fans 42
circulate air through the airflow passage 40 and through the
evaporator 38, wherein the air is cooled in a conventional manner
as it traverses the evaporator 38 by heat exchange with refrigerant
passing from the condensing equipment through the tubes of the
evaporator coil. This refrigerated air is delivered to the display
space 30 through a plurality of holes 48 provided in the back panel
24 which separates the display space 30 from the airflow passage 40
as the airflow passage extends upwardly along the back panel
24.
As depicted in the drawing, the product being displayed in the
display area 30 of the display case 10, such as for example
pre-packaged luncheon meat, is suspended from a peg bar support
system 50. The peg bar support system 50 may be of conventional
design such as, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
4,951,057 to Garfinkle or U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,466 to Fredrickson,
the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by
reference. Product suspended on the peg bar support system is
cooled by refrigerated air flowing through the display space 30.
This refrigerated air passes from the airflow passage 40 through
the holes 48 in the back panel 24 and exits the display area
through the airflow passage inlet 46.
The peg bar support system 50 is of the conventional type and
includes a support bar 52 and a plurality of supporting rods 54 and
56. The support bar 52 is fixedly attached at each of its ends to
the back panel 24 via a support bracket 56. The rods 54 and 56 are
supported from the support bar 52 in a cantilevered fashion to
extend outwardly therefrom into the product display space 30. The
rods 54 provide means for supporting the product 15 by suspension
in the conventional manner. The rods 56, which extend outwardly in
the product space 30 to a greater extent than the product support
rods 54, support a tag moulding 58 on which product identification
and pricing information tags may be mounted for display to the
customer.
An airflow baffle plate 60 is disposed superadjacent the support
rods 54 of the peg bar support system 50, advantageously extending
across substantially the entire width of the display case 10. In
accordance with the present invention the airflow baffle 60 is
foreshortened, that is the airflow baffle 60 has a depth which is
less than the distance between the back panel 24 bounding the rear
of the display space 30 of the display case 10 and the tag moulding
58 disposed near the front of the display space 30. As best seen in
FIGS. 4 and 5, the foreshortened baffle plate 60 is disposed with
its forward edge 62 in spaced relationship with and behind the tag
moulding 58 thereby defining an airflow gap 63 between the forward
edge 62 of the baffle plate 60 and the tag moulding 58. The airflow
gap 63 provides an airflow path through which a portion of the
airflow over the baffle plate 60 may flow downwardly over the first
rows or first few rows of the product 15 hanging on the forward
portion of the product support rods 54. This extra airflow serves
to improve the cooling of the product 15 by countering the effect
of the heat from any lighting that may be positioned in the forward
region of the display area 30 and from the impact of any ambient
air that may be entrained into the air curtain 20 flowing
downwardly over the front of the display space 30.
Advantageously, the baffle plate 60 may also be disposed with its
rearward edge 64 in spaced relationship with and forward of the
back panel 24 of the display case 10 thereby defining a second
airflow gap 65 between the rearward edge 64 of the baffle plate 60
and the back panel 24 of the display case 10. The airflow gap 65
provides an airflow path through which a portion of the airflow
passing into the display space 30 through the holes 48 in the back
panel 24 may pass into the back region of the display space 30
immediately beneath the baffle plate 60 to flow over product 15
hanging on the rearward portion of the product support rods 54.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of
airflow passages 70 extend through the baffle plate 60 through
which a portion of the refrigerated air passing over the surface of
the baffle plate 60 may pass downwardly through the airflow
passages 70 to pass over and cool the product 15 hanging on the
product support rods 54 of the peg bar support system 50 lying
subadjacent the baffle plate 60. In one embodiment, as illustrated
in FIG. 6, the airflow passages comprise a plurality of holes 70
congregated in a forward portion 68 of the baffle plate 60 lying
along the forward edge 62 of the baffle plate 60. In alternative
embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the airflow passages comprise
a plurality of holes 70 distributed evenly over the surface of the
baffle plate 60. It is to be understood, however, that the airflow
passages 70 may be of any size, of any shape, such as slots, and be
distributed in any desired pattern over the baffle plate 60.
The aforementioned description, in which the preferred embodiments
of the invention have been disclosed, is exemplary in nature,
rather that limiting. Those skilled in the art will recognize that
various modifications and alterations of the present invention are
possible in light of the above teachings, without departing from
the scope of the invention. It is to be understood that the
invention may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims,
but otherwise than as specifically described in the detailed
description hereinbefore presented.
* * * * *